Really curious as I know part of the problem may be pollution, but if certain parts of trash were burnable and safe, would that be a viable waste disposal option, somehow? Thanks in advance.
EDIT: Huge thank you to everyone that contributed & especially those with the World Class responses to my simple yet genuine question. This is why I consider this sub to be the Gem of the Internet. I know we all have a different frame of reference & I applaud you for taking the time to break down the answer in the unique form that you have provided. Much respect!
In: 4688
Ok, so here in Honolulu, we do have an active volcano with an open lava pit on a nearby island and we do burn our trash to get rid of it, but the two things are completely unrelated.
For one thing, a lot of people genuinely believe the volcano to be the home of Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire. A much, much larger group of people don’t believe that Pele is a real deity, but that the cultural concept of her is still sacred. So, if you started backing trash trucks up to Kilauea, you’d have a literal insurrection on your hands. Even I, a devout Christian, would be appalled by the idea.
All of the domestic trash on the whole island of O’ahu gets sent to the [H-Power facility](https://www.covanta.com/where-we-are/our-facilities/honolulu]). Iron/ steel is pulled out with magnets ahead of time for recycling. That’s why we don’t put food cans in our recycling bins. The plant doesn’t just burn it. It uses a plasma arc furnace to get it up to 2000F. Other metals are extracted from the ash and recycled. The trash get’s reduced in volume by 90% and then the ashes go to a landfill. The exhaust is 99.9% water vapor, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.
This also is a net positive electricity generator. In fact, because plastic burns so well, the plant buys masses of lost fishing nets and lines that fisherman sometimes catch unintentionally. If a boat has a bad day, it can sometimes make more money selling garbage than fish. This is also why I personally don’t return my plastic bottles to get the recycling deposit back. Environmentally, it makes much more sense to send them off to get turned into electricity. When we recycle them, the get baled up and shipped to a plant in Alabama. That’s some of the worst greenwashing I can think of. The plant accounts for 5-15% of our total power generation for a population of just under a million people.
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